Newly appointed Tennessee Commissioner of Agriculture Charlie Hatcher met with Gary Lands, Vice-President of the Roane County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and Rusty Byrd, Agency Manager of the Roane County Farm Bureau, in a small group setting recently.

“There is immeasurable value in being able to shake a farmer’s hand and personally hear about their successes and challenges,” said Hatcher.

The Y-12 National Security Complex recently honored 21 innovators for their fiscal year 2018 accomplishments at the site’s 15th annual Technology Transfer awards ceremony in Knoxville.

The group’s innovations garnered nine patents in areas including radiation area monitors, ergonomic glovebox workspaces and a sensor and methods of detecting target materials. Of the nine patents, many were developed from Plant Directed Research and Development-funded projects.

Tennessee Wildlife Federation, one of the largest and oldest nonprofits dedicated to the conservation of Tennessee’s wildlife and natural resources, recently hosted its 54th Annual Conservation Achievement Awards.

The ceremony was held in Nashville and presented 17 awards to recipients from all corners of the state, including two area residents and two locally based organizations.

The Kerbela Shriners are holding their annual paper sale on May 15-19, a fundraiser for the organization’s Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

Club Vice President Dennis Ferguson says that they will be reaching out to businesses in the county to collect donations.

The Shriners are instrumental in helping children in the county who are burned or crippled, and offer assistance to them and their families with treatment and transportation to and from the hospitals in Cincinnati, Ohio and Lexington, Ky.

Consolidated Nuclear Security LLC, the managing operator of the Y-12 National Security Complex, announced on May 7, that ARS International LLC, is the Y-12 Small Business of the Year and Karen Prillhart, as the Y-12 Small Business Advocate.

The announcements were part of a combined ceremony with the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The three organizations honor outstanding small businesses and local leaders annually at the “Celebrate Oak Ridge Business” breakfast at the Double Tree Hotel.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management announced five small business awardees for its Characterization, Deactivation/Demolition, and Remediation Services contract.

Through this arrangement, each company has a five-year Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract where OREM can issue Firm-Fixed-Price task orders. The maximum value for services is $24.9 million.